Today, eXp Realty announced a three-portal syndication that will allow agents to distribute “Coming Soon” listings to Realtor.com, Homes.com, and ComeHome.com (via Google Search) starting April 15.
This comes just one day after Zillow introduced “Zillow Preview” and weeks after Compass expanded its pre-market strategy through a partnership with Redfin.
eXp’s Three-Portal Syndication
Beginning April 15, eXp agents can—at the seller’s request and in compliance with local MLS rules—distribute “Coming Soon” listings across three major consumer platforms.
Through its integration with Zenlist, listings can reach over 170 million monthly views through the three platforms:
- Realtor.com (62 million average monthly users)
- Homes.com network (108 million monthly users)
- ComeHome.com (distributed through Google Search)
During the pre-market window, agents can share property details, photos, and marketing, essentially building demand before the official launch on the MLS.
CEO Leo Pareja explained the strategy:
“Our philosophy is simple. If a home is being marketed to the public, consumers deserve the opportunity to see it. Our role as an industry is to create the most open and efficient marketplace possible for buyers and sellers. This is not about limiting where listings appear. It is about expanding visibility and giving sellers the widest possible audience while maintaining compliance with MLS rules and local regulations.”
That same theme of open access was echoed by Realtor.com CEO Damian Eales, who framed the partnership as a broader industry shift toward transparency:
“Our new agreement with eXp marks an important step forward in support of MLS’s and our aligned mission to ensure a fair marketplace driven by MLS transparency. Sellers want clicks, not cliques and eXp is delivering for them.
“We recognize a seller’s desire for price exploration before officially going to market, and a ‘Coming Soon’ status is the ideal solution for buyers, sellers and professionals. By displaying these listings on the open market, sellers can achieve true price discovery. It eliminates the need for restrictive private marketplaces and ensures equal access for all buyers, not a subset selected by the listing agent. Ultimately, a public ‘Coming Soon’ status drives more engagement and more bidders, often resulting in a higher final sale price.
“We thank eXp for their leadership and encourage all brokers to prioritize the interests of their clients by making ‘Coming Soon’ listings widely available through their MLS. If an MLS doesn’t support ‘Coming Soon’ status today, we encourage the MLS to create it.”
What Makes eXp’s Strategy Different
One of the biggest differences in eXp Realty’s approach is that it’s non-exclusive.
Instead of sending “Coming Soon” listings to a single portal or platform, eXp is distributing them across multiple third-party platforms at the same time. This allows listings to reach a broader audience before they officially go live on the MLS.
Here’s how that compares to other strategies:
- Brokerages that signed on to participate in Zillow Preview will bring pre-market listings into Zillow and Trulia search results. This will increase visibility within the Zillow ecosystem.
- Compass, through its partnership with Rocket, is expanding the reach of its pre-market listings while maintaining a phased listing strategy. These listings will appear exclusively on Redfin.
While all three approaches are focused on increasing visibility before a listing hits the market, the key difference is how that visibility is distributed and controlled.
This has quickly become a major point of discussion across the real estate industry. In recent weeks, some brokerages and industry leaders have faced criticism for shifting their stance on listing distribution and portal partnerships.
Within that context, eXp’s position stands out for its consistency.
Pareja is reinforcing a philosophy the company has long supported: if a listing is being marketed publicly, it should be accessible across multiple platforms, not limited to just one.
As stated in the company’s release:
“eXp believes consumers should be able to access listings across multiple platforms and not just a single website, in order to support a more open, competitive, and efficient housing marketplace.”
In other words, while the industry debates where listings should live, eXp is betting on maximum exposure across the entire digital ecosystem.
